CEBU CITY—Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia welcomed the decision of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to suspend the operations of the dolomite mining and mineral processing firms in Alcoy town, southern Cebu.
Garcia thanked DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu for stopping the mining firms’ operations pending the results of an investigation on violations of their mining permits, water discharge permit, and the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC).
“I would like to thank Secretary Cimatu for acting quickly,” said Garcia.
The governor said she believed that Cimatu was already apprised of the investigation showing some signs of damage in the town’s marine ecosystem that was caused by mining activities.
“There are obvious violations to the ECC and to the water discharge permit. These are violations that are causing degradation of our seabed,” Garcia said.
Cimatu ordered Dolomite Mining Corporation and Philippine Mining Service Corporation to suspend the processing of blocks of dolomite exported as raw material to Korea and Japan for the manufacture of glass and steel. The two firms also processed the crushed dolomite rocks used for the beautification project in Manila Bay.
The governor added that there were already plans to issue cease and desist orders before the suspension order was issued.
“We had contemplated on issuing cease and desist orders, but I thank Secretary Cimatu for beating me to it. So, thank you very much,” Garcia said.